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AC Golden Brewing Company, the makers of Colorado Native Lager, announced this week they have a new addition to their Colorado beer lineup, Colorado Native IPL. IPL is an India Pale Lager, which is a newer style, and not seen very often. Colorado Native IPL is similar to an IPA (India Pale Ale) with a big hop flavor, and aroma. The main difference is the IPL is brewed with a lager yeast, which makes for an extremely smooth, balanced taste. You still get the hops you would in a typical IPA, but the bitterness is really toned down. I’m an IPA drinker, and found IPL to be a really good beer that is perfect for someone wanting to try something hoppy, but doesn’t like too much bitterness. Colorado Native IPL is a full bodied, hoppy, All-Colorado beer that I highly recommend trying.There are many beer drinkers that say Colorado Native is simply a Coors product in flashy new packaging. I’ve been lucky enough to visit AC Golden twice – where I met the small staff, and brewers that brew the beer. Colorado Native is brewed in a small brewery within the Coors facility in Golden, however the production is on a very small scale in comparison. Colorado Native is unique in the fact that it’s brewed with only Colorado ingredients. Due to only being brewed with Colorado water, hops, barley, and the oldest yeast strain in the state, AC Golden can only produce a small amount of beer. Colorado does not have a big enough hop output to be able to produce Colorado Native in the large quantities of a Coors Light, or Coors Banquet. So for those of you that think Colorado Native is just another Coors product, I hope you realize that is not the case. While the beers are held to the same high quality standards as Coors, Colorado Native is produced by a small, passionate staff that puts a lot of love into what they do. For more of a background on AC Golden, check out the details from my first visit, here.

I visited with AC Golden’s President and Co-Founder, Glenn ‘Knip’ Knippenberg, Brewer, Jeff Nickel, and Marketing Consultant, Aimee Valdez. I spent a couple hours finding out about Colorado Native IPL, touring the brewery, and trying IPL at different stages in the brewing process. The team at AC Golden is as excited about their product as any brewery I’ve featured so far. From using only Colorado ingredients, to taking on a newer style of beer, the team at AC Golden impressed me with their genuine passion for what they do, and the commitment to making an excellent product that is only available in Colorado.

Colorado Native IPL Info:

Hops: Chinook, Centennial, Cascade, Nugget, Crystal

Malts: Moravian 2-row Pale and Munich

IBUs: 62

ABV: 6.5%

All ingredients are grown in Colorado

Bottles are manufactured in Wheat Ridge, CO

Colorado Native Lager and Colorado Native IPL are only sold in Colorado

Colorado Native provides incentives for Colorado farmers to produce hops. In doing so, they helped create a market for Colorado-grown hops and a new category of agriculture.

Rides, Samples & Sounds

Railroads have been transporting beer out of Golden for decades. Some of Colorado’s best brews have been placed in refrigerator cars, known as “reefers,” and delivered throughout the United States.

Celebrate the history and heritage of beer in Golden and Colorado at the Golden Craft Beer Train on Saturday, August 9 from 12:00 to 4:00PM.

Sample beer from craft breweries, grab a bite to eat from local food trucks, and enjoy live music as you explore the Museum’s 15-acre railyard. Don’t miss your opportunity to catch a ride behind the historic steam locomotive in vintage passenger cars at the Colorado Train Museum!

AC Golden Brewing Company, the makers of Colorado Native Lager, are offering free Blue Spruce saplings to those interested in regrowing the state. For full details see the flyer and additional information below.

After several years of devastating wild fires and beetle infestation, and last year’s 100-year flood, the state’s forests and urban areas have lost millions of trees.

To celebrate Arbor Day, which is Friday, April 18 in Colorado, and to help regrow Colorado, locals can join Colorado Native’s club, The Brew Crew, and request a free Blue Spruce sapling be sent to their home for planting.

The Blue Spruce saplings, about 1½ years old, were grown by and purchased from the Colorado State Forest Service’s Seedling Tree Nursery in Northern Colorado. The trees come ready to plant. The Blue Spruce is Colorado’s state tree and is well suited to the local environment.

“As Colorado’s home grown beer, Colorado Native Lager is the perfect fit for helping Coloradans regrow the state, one tree at a time,” said Glenn Knippenberg, president and co-founder of AC Golden Brewing Company, brewer of Colorado Native. “Colorado Native is brewed with 100 percent Colorado ingredients, and is packaged and shipped only in Colorado. We reinvest 25 cents from every single case sold back into the state through projects like this one. Colorado is our home and we feel strongly that our efforts and investments should benefit our beautiful state,” said Knippenberg.

To receive a sapling, go to www.ColoradoNative.com during April and click on Brew Crew. There is no cost to join the club. Members receive free gifts and special offers like this one. Last month, Brew Crew members were able to join Colorado Native’s legion of volunteer hop growers and receive a free hop rhizome. Members can grow and harvest their hops for inclusion in a Colorado Native brew in the fall.

About CSFS Seedling Tree Nursery
The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) seedling tree program allows farmers, ranchers and rural landowners to obtain trees at a nominal cost. Its goal is to encourage landowners to plant new forests; to establish effective windbreaks that reduce erosion; to protect homes, cropland, livestock and highways; and to enhance wildlife habitat. The nursery has many outdoors acres and an 18,000 square foot greenhouse. It sells an average of one million seedlings annually.

About Arbor Day –
Arbor Day is a nationally recognized day to encourage individuals and groups to plant and care for trees. It originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska in 1872. National Arbor Day is April 24 this year however each state observes its own date to facilitate the best tree planting time. Colorado’s Arbor Day this year is Friday, April 18.

About AC Golden Brewing Company
AC Golden Brewing Company, located in Golden, Colo., is a small-batch brewery specializing in handcrafted beers for discerning beer drinkers. Among its beers are: Colorado Native, an amber lager made with 100 percent Colorado ingredients; Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve, a German-style lager; Barmen, a German-style pilsner, and Winterfest, a Vienna-style lager shared only during the holidays.

The World Beer Cup is put on every other year by The Brewers Association, which is headquartered in Boulder, CO. The World Beer Cup is a popular event among brewers and brewing companies, as it brings together the best and brightest in the brewing industry. The 2014 World Beer Cup and Craft Brewers Conference took place in Denver, CO, and included a whopping 4,754 beers, 1,403 breweries from 58 countries and 94 styles of beer! Colorado brewers fared well at the World Beer Cup, bringing home 24 medals (10 Gold, 5 Silver, 9 Bronze).

According to The Brewers Association, “The mission of the World Beer Cup is to create greater consumer awareness around the world about the quality and diversity displayed by the various beers of the world. The World Beer Cup is dedicated to recognizing both the traditions and innovations shared by the entire brewing industry as well as those customs unique to specific countries and regions. The World Beer Cup also promotes the responsible consumption of beer as an alcohol-containing beverage and urges beer producers and distributors to encourage beer enthusiasts to savor the flavor of beer responsibly.”

Check out our Colorado Craft Beer Map – a helpful tool to easily find local breweries across Colorado. Simply type in the brewery name in the search bar, or sort by city/region in the drop down. We hope this helps all of your wildest beer dreams come true. Cheers!

Framboise Noir was aged in oak barrels for two months with blackberries from the Western Slope of Colorado. The result is a dry, yet creamy, red wine-colored sour with a complex taste of fresh plums, maple and oak, caramelized toffee and blackberry jam.

The beer is packaged in 750 ml bottles with a cork and cage seal and a unique, wooden label. The label material, from Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials, is made of real cherry wood, which is backed with a special liner and adhesive to adhere to glass. Because the labels are real wood, each one is uniquely grained. No two labels are exactly the same.

“We thought a real wood label would be perfect to represent our Hidden Barrel Collection, since most of those offerings are aged in wooden whiskey and wine barrels,” said Glenn Knippenberg, president and co-founder of AC Golden Brewing. “It was a bit of a challenge but we have a great labeling partner in The Smyth Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. Smyth has been literally “posted up” on the leading edge of packaging innovation for as long as we have been associated with them. It is fun to be one of the very first to use this new type of label.”

The label material was introduced by Avery Dennison about a year ago. The challenge of producing wood label material that’s ideal for printing is to create a uniform thickness and smooth surface, while not losing the real grain of the wood. The label designs were created by Conor McMahon at The Integer Group.

About 89 cases of Framboise Noir are available in about 20 craft-centric liquor stores in the Denver metro area.

Framboise Noir is part of AC Golden’s Hidden Barrel Collection, which displays the brewer’s passion for experimenting with a variety of brewing materials and production methods. Other recent releases from the Collection include: Ctayt (Russian Imperial Stout), Peche, Apricot, Kriek and Checkpoint Charlie.

AC Golden Brewing Company, Golden, Colo., is a small batch brewery specializing in hand crafting beers for discerning drinkers. Among its beers are: Colorado Native, an amber lager made with 100 percent Colorado ingredients; Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve, a German-style lager; Barmen, a German-style pilsner, and Winterfest, a Vienna-style lager shared only during the holidays.

We’ve visited breweries around Colorado, and will be visiting many more. Find out about the history of our featured breweries, and the brewer’s that are responsible for brewing the craft beer they provide to Colorado beer drinkers.

The makers of Colorado Native Lager are at it again. Their latest creation is called Olathe Lager, and is a great example of a craft beer brewed with Colorado ingredients. Just in time for the Colorado harvest, AC Golden Brewing Company introduces a first-of-its-kind beer, Olathe lager, a German-style lager brewed with Olathe hops, corn and barley.

“The corn, barley and hops were all grown within one mile of each other in Olathe,” said Glenn Knippenberg, president of AC Golden Brewing Company. “We brewed this lager to celebrate the harvest season and all the men and women who work so hard in agriculture in the state.”

The beer’s ingredients include Charles two-row winter barley malt, world-renowned Olathe sweet corn, and Crystal and Nugget hops from Misty Mountain Hops Farm. The result is a German-style lager with a very balanced taste. “We want folks to know that when they enjoy this beer, they are celebrating and helping to support the hop farmers and barley growers of Colorado,” said Knippenberg.

The beer’s label resembles burlap and prominently features the name. The label reads: “Whether its fruits, vegetables, grains or hops, the fertile ground from Fruita to Palisade, and down to Montrose and from Paonia to Delta produces world class agriculture. “Home grown” is important to us. We’re the brewers that brew Colorado Native Lager from ingredients grown only in Colorado. To celebrate the harvest season, and the area’s rich agriculture heritage, we brewed this golden lager as a tip of the hat to those who work the ground to feed us all.”

Olathe beer is available in draft and in 750 ml bottles (25.4 fluid ounces). Only 1,440 bottles were produced. It’s available in Cedaredge, Delta, Grand Junction, Hotchkiss, Montrose, Olathe, Palisade and Paonia while supplies last.

AC Golden Brewing Company, located in Golden, Colo., is a small brewery that handcrafts beers for discerning drinkers. The company also brews Colorado Native, the only lager brewed with 100 percent Colorado ingredients, including barley grown in the San Luis Valley, hops grown 100 percent in Colorado, Rocky Mountain water and the oldest variety of brewing yeast in the state.

AC Golden Brewing Company is located in Golden, CO, and operates out of a small section of the Coors facility. AC Golden brews in what was once the pilot brewery for Coors – which focused on trying new recipes and qualifying new varieties of barley and hops. AC Golden Brewing Company was founded by Pete Coors in 2007, and is run by President and Co-Founder, Glenn (Knip) Knippenberg. As Knip describes the company “At AC Golden all we care about is the customer. Our goal is to brew quality beer that our customers will enjoy.”

In 2007, Pete Coors was looking for a way to be able to create good new beers without breaking the bank to do it. Over the years, Coors, Miller and Anheiser Busch had attempted to market many new beers, and had seen their efforts add up to the loss of large amounts of money. Pete had the idea to start a small, separate company that would be able to focus on brewing new beers, selling them locally and using a smaller geography to determine whether or not to expand them. He also envisioned a separate sales force to avoid distracting the mainstream salesforce – who needed to keep their eye on the brands that paid the bills…Coors, Miller Lite, Blue Moon, etc. The new company would be able to focus efforts on the most important thing – the beer.

Glenn (Knip) Knippenberg originally starting working for Coors in 1983. He left the company and was living in Kentucky when he got the call from Pete. Pete invited Knip to come back to Colorado to run AC Golden, which was going to focus on small-batch beers. As Knip put it “Coming back was a no-brainer, it was a great idea and I knew it was what I wanted to do.” The opportunity to brew craft beers was too good for Knip to pass up. In April 2007, AC Golden Brewing Company officially began brewing in the old pilot brewery at Coors. They expanded the capacity from 1,000 barrels annually, to 8,000 barrels by adding a new fermentation cellar, commissioned in January 2010.

I had the great opportunity to spend time with the team at AC Golden last week. After sitting down with Knip for a few minutes, it is obvious he loves what he does, and he brings a passion to the team at AC Golden. Pete Coors definitely knew what he was doing when he asked Knip to run the company. Knip is happy to talk about AC Golden, and especially its most popular brand, Colorado Native Lager. On top of meeting with Knip, I was also able to meet with Head Brewer, Jeff Nickel and Brewers Steve (Fletch) Fletcher, Jason zumBrunnan and Ben Knutson. Everyone on the team was excited to discuss their role – and especially the beers they brew. They were all smiling quite a bit too – I’m guessing the beer might have had something to do with that! I know it definitely brought a smile to my face. I can’t explain how great it was to meet them all, and to find out about AC Golden Brewing Company.

AC Golden Brewing Company is best known for Colorado Native Lager, which is a very unique beer for a few reasons. Colorado Native is brewed with all Colorado ingredients. The barley, hops, yeast and water are all sourced from within the great state of Colorado. To take it a step further, Colorado Native Lager is only available for sale in Colorado. To say this is a unique beer is putting it lightly. AC Golden came up with a great idea, but they also did a ton of work to make it possible to actually brew this beer. To be able to source hops from Colorado, AC Golden actually got involved in the process of growing hops. They set out to find farmers that could grow for them. They also planted different hop varieties on the Coors farm in Center, CO. They started with 8 types of hops and eventually narrowed this down to 3 hops – the 3 that are currently used in Colorado Native Lager (Cascade, Centennial and Chinook). Once they figured out which hops to use, AC Golden found more farms in the San Juan Valley, and Western Slope that were able to grow those hops as well. Today, there are 11 Colorado farms that grow hops that are used in Colorado Native Lager! AC Golden Brewing Company is best known for Colorado Native Lager, but they brew other beers that are very good as well. Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve is a German style lager, and is also only available in 16 restaurants in Colorado. Born of German heritage dating back to 1868, Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve recipe combines the finest European and North American hops with prized Moravian two-row barley. Herman Joseph was Adolph Coors’ two middle names.

Winterfest is the third beer that AC Golden currently brews. Winterfest is a limited release beer, just for the holidays. It was originally brewed just for friends and family. 2013 will mark the 27th year for Winterfest. The more it was shared, the more popular it became, and the more of it was brewed. Winterfest is also brewed with Moravian two-row barley malt with choice hops from the Hallerrtau region of Germany.

The fourth beer brewed by AC Golden is a German Pilsner called Barmen. Barmen Pilsner was first brewed in what is now the AC Golden Brewing Company. It was initially offered on November 12, 1997. The brewing was later moved to the Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field. In February of 2012, Barmen brewing was moved back to AC Golden Brewing Company. Barmen was born of Pete Coors’ desire to brew a German Pilsner that tastes exactly like the great pilsners of northern Germany. The beer was named after Barmen, Germany; birthplace of Adolph Herman Joseph Coors. Barmen is offered in only a few bars and restaurants in and around Golden, CO. To ensure you enjoy the full Barmen experience, bars and restaurants offering Barmen are requested to honor the traditional “German Seven-Minute Pour” and to serve the beer in the proper Barmen branded pilsner glass. When properly poured, it should look like this.

I was able to find out about some new things in the works at AC Golden. The brewers are working on some new beers that should be released later this year or possibly next year. I can’t provide too much info about that, but I’m looking forward to it! I was able to sample some sour beers the brewers are aging in oak barrels at the pilot brewery. These were a nice change of pace, and much different than any of the other beer offerings from AC Golden. The brewers were really excited to talk about the flexibility they have to work on new styles and recipes – and ultimately the next production beer they will be releasing.

Oak aging new recipes at AC Golden

My visit to AC Golden Brewing Company was great for many reasons. It was awesome to learn how the company works, and to be able to dispel some misconceptions about the brewery (which I believed myself). Many beer enthusiasts, and other brewers, think that AC Golden is just Coors coming up with new packaging and marketing campaigns. Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The team at AC Golden is small, and passionate about brewing great craft beer. They want their customers to get world-class beer, and they use the best ingredients in order to make this possible. In fact, AC Golden is so passionate about their hops, they have done a great deal to introduce the crop to many farmers in Colorado. I sat down with Brewer Steve (Fletch) Fletcher for a solid 20 minutes just talking about the selection of hops.

Another misconception about AC Golden is that they brew with the same equipment as Coors. This is not true. The equipment they use was part of the the pilot brewery, but is very small in comparison to the large brewery. The AC Golden brew kettle is 30 barrels while the Coors brew kettles are closer to 500 barrels. AC Golden operates in its own section of the brewery, has its own brewers, and operates completely separate from Coors. There is a separate sales team, marketing team, and leadership team. It was nice to see this first hand as I had heard a few theories as to how the company operated, and they were all pretty far off base.

I would like to thank everyone at AC Golden Brewing Company for a great visit. I thoroughly enjoyed talking, sampling beers, and touring the pilot brewery. If you are a craft beer drinker and want to try a great local beer, definitely try Colorado Native Lager. Colorado Native has a rich, full-flavor with slight fruitiness, and clean finish. Just make sure you are in Colorado, or you won’t be able to find it! Of course, you can always try Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve, Barmen, or Winterfest when they are available as well. I’ve added beer locators below:

The 2013 Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival was held Saturday, April 6th in Downtown Breckenridge, CO. There was a lot of buzz as beer enthusiasts gathered to sample some of the best craft beer Colorado, and the United States has to offer. From big national brewers like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada to smaller regional brewers like Palisade Brewery and San Luis Valley Brewing, the event provided visitors a chance to sample many different types of beer. Several Colorado favorites were available with AC Golden, Breckenridge Brewery, Great Divide, Left Hand, Odell and Oskar Blues providing their popular craft beers.

The atmosphere in Downtown Breckenridge was lively and fun as beer enthusiasts from all over gathered to sample a great mix of quality craft beers. The event catered to an audience of all ages, and many families came to enjoy the festival. Live music created a nice vibe as many participants danced in the street to the music of 7Horse, Mountain Standard Time, and Max Gomez. There is nothing quite like drinking a fresh beer, while listening to good music with the mountains above Breckenridge in the background!

Best Beers (in our opinion). Keep in mind that there were so many great beers available to taste, we didn’t even come close to trying all of them! To see a list of all brewers that participated in the event, click here.

Wheat: Pug Ryan’s Morningwood Wheat was outstanding. A smooth taste, with very subtle spiciness and a nice finish.

Stout: Left Hand’s Milk Stout was really tasty. The subtle taste of coffee, without being overpowering. The Milk Stout has a nice creamy/frosty finish and goes down really smooth.

Belgian: Avery’s White Rascal has a spicy, sweet and unique taste. As we overheard someone say “It tastes like Christmas!” While that is not how we would describe it, the saying actually works.

Lager: Colorado Native was our favorite lager of the day. A distinct malt flavor with some bitterness and an overall clean, crisp taste.

IPA: The Odell IPA was our first beer of the day, and just so happened to be our favorite IPA as well. Great hoppiness, with smooth, subtle hints of fruity finish.

Pilsner: The Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils. This beer has a bit of a different flavor than most Pilsners. A rich, smooth and subtly hoppy beer with a nice finish.

Most Unique/Unusual: Breckeridge Brewery’s Roasted Habanero Lucky IPA. This crazy beer has a subtle kick from the habanero, but is not overpowering. It’s a creative twist on the IPA, and was unlike anything else we tried!

We had a great time at the Breckenridge Spring Beer Festival! If you were unable to make it to the Spring edition, plan on making it to the Summer edition. The Breckenridge Summer Beer Festival will be held July 13, 2013. To find out more check out http://breckenridgebeerfestival.net/july/